Monthly Archives: September 2002

The other day, I speculated that Al Gore’s flip-flopping on matters of war and peace might be something new in our political history. However, my cousin George Chimes, who knows more about American history than I can ever hope to, reminds me that “Gore’s weasel words on issues of war and peace are part of a long Democratic tradition.” He cites Woodrow Wilson’s 1916 campaign pledge to “keep us out »

Whether the Democrats will be able to field a substitute candidate for Torricelli is unclear. The Democrats reportedly believe the New Jersey Supreme Court will come through for them, but I can’t imagine how this can be achieved in five weeks. Here is the latest from the Washington Post. My favorite quote is from Doug Forrester, who says: “The laws of the state of New Jersey do not contain a »

Donald Lambro of the Washington Times reaches the same conclusion as Rocket Man regarding Tom Daschle’s recent outburst — it “had more to do with his political frustration over Iraq’s dominance in the election debate than with President Bush’s slap at Senate Democrats on national security.” Lambro cites some significant poll results. A Gallup Poll shows that, by a margin of 49 percent to 41 percent, voters are more worried »

The Associated Press confirms that Torricelli is dropping out of the race. Speculation over possible replacement candidates focuses on former Senators Bill Bradley and Frank Lautenberg and current House members Bob Menedez, Frank Pallone, and Rob Andrews (the latter has been an ardent Bush supporter when it comes to Iraq). But state law apparently is an obstacle to replacing a candidate this late in the game, absent extraordinary circumstances such »

It appears that Torricelli may pull out of his Senate re-election race. HIs campaign manager says a press conference is planned for this afternoon. I assume he won’t hold a press conference to announce that he is staying in. Apparently this is being engineered by the national Democratic party; no doubt they have a plan to substitute another candidate, but it is awfully late in the day for that. »

Here’s a nice piece about the film “Barbershop” by an African-American writer. She finds the movie “reassuring,” not offensive. She sees “Barbershop” as evidence that the new generation of African-American artists (and its audience) no longer “fears the truth” and, not coincidentally, is no longer taking its cues from the old civil rights leadership. »

Debka File has a fascinating account of diplomatic progress in the Persian Gulf: “On the quiet, Washington has made important strides in the bid to assemble an Arab-Muslim coalition for its war effort. Egypt and Saudi Arabia were the first to climb on board.” Debka File reports that Egypt has turned its Cairo West military base over to the US war command, while American warships are freely traversing the Suez »

Some time after the fall of the Soviet Union the New York Review of Books became worth reading. The current issue has a fine essay/review by Pico Iyer on William Buckley and his three most recent books. I am struck by the open-hearted appreciation of Buckley as a person that comes through in Iyer’s review and in his reading of these books. To my surprise I see that this review »

More on Torchgate: The Trenton Courier Post has a terrific summary of the situation as of today, “Ethics blows have Torricelli battered and on the brink.” Among other things, the story notes a poll showing the Torch now down 13 points to his invisible Republican opponent. The story also notes another fact I had missed: “Democrats announced Friday that Torricelli had been selected to make the Democratic response to President »

The Washington Post editorial that Deacon linked to earlier isn’t bad; it concludes that voting to confirm Miguel Estrada is “an easy call.” In typical fashion, however, the Post can’t bear to criticize unequivocally the Democratic smear campaign against Estrada. Instead, the Post casts Republicans and Democrats as equally blameworthy. The Republican sin, apparently, is praising Estrada as “a kind of Horatio Alger story.” In the Post’s view, praising a »

Here is a tribute to this year’s Minnesota Twins from their ancestral home. Washington Post sportswriter William Gildea, who is old enough to remember when the Twins were the Washington Senators, finds immense satisfaction in the Twins’ season. He is also pleased that two other less than glamorous franchises — the Oakland A’s and the Anaheim Angels — have joined the Twins in the playoffs. »

Maybe I shouldn’t cancel my subscription after all. The Washington Post calls for the confirmation of Maguel Estrada to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. As to claims that Estrada black-balled non-conservative applicants for judicial clerkships, the Post finds that “it is terribly wrong to demand that Mr. Estrada answer charges to which nobody is willing to attach his or her name.” »

George Will calls for tort reform now. He notes that “by preventing agreement on reasonable limits to liability for terrorism insurance purposes, the trial bar and its poodle, the Democratic party, are casuing delays or cancellations of $10 billion in construction projects,” thus sacrificing “hundreds of thousands of jobs.” »

Do you believe that Senator Robert Torricelli (D-unmarried, no kids) drinks milk? If you do, you won’t be troubled by this story. I believe we failed to note that Senator Tom Harkin’s campaign manager has now resigned over the campaign’s dirty trick that neither he nor Senator Harkin had anything to do with. The Des Moines Register had the story yesterday. To be thorough in our continuing scandal coverage, we »